"We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding in something makes no contribution to the hiding place. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue." John Piper

Monday, March 2, 2009

This week I am not posting a menu plan because we are actually eating what I had planned for last week. This is due to the fact that my back began to give me grief last Monday (first time I've had back problems). My back is probably unhappy because the cartilage is gone in my right knee and I am now undergoing physical therapy for the same. And I'm fairly certain that the new leg brace I'm wearing is the other contributor. You know ..."the knee bone's connected to the back muscles..." sort of thing. I am scheduled to have knee replacement surgery, but there is a six month waiting list. In the meantime I am having loads of fun hobbling around with the brace (it covers most of my leg and squeaks when I walk), learning to exercise an already painful knee joint and discovering muscles in my back (unhappy they are) that I never knew existed.

However, I am learning to give thanks for these blessings of weakness. They are the Lord's sanctifying tools more than anything else. He is working on me and I understand exactly what He is doing. Though it is not always true that I am "in the know" so to speak, this time He has made it very evident to me. So in my weakness, I have been crying out to Him to strengthen me.

This is what the apostle Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. He had some sort of physical weakness which the Lord would not remove and He told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness." In response Paul said, "Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

So though it is true that in this game of getting older, one must be strong to get weak, it is more true that in order to be strong, one must first be weak. In that state, when we surrender to God's purposes, His empowering grace truly is sufficient for our needs.

Anyway, this week I am actually making most of last week's menus - that's my plan. Check back next week and there should be a post for the menus for the weak week.

I'd love to hear from you!

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Who in the world is this "good woman"?

Lately, I've been tempted to change the name of this blog because most women relate better to a name like "My Chaotic Life" or "More Thorns Than Roses". You know something that sounds a little more human, unlike that "good woman", in Proverbs 31 who seems so perfect she's unapproachable.

However, I resisted. Here's why: The good woman isn't perfect, just forgiven. She knows "...that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out" (Rom. 7:18-19). She confesses, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you" (Ps. 16:2).

So who is this good woman? She is any woman who has experienced the goodness and mercy of God through Christ's work on the cross. He lives in her and He is her good. She's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but looks to the day when, in Christ's presence, she is perfected.

Till then, life will go on with all its thorns and chaos. But by the grace and goodness of God, there will be many roses among the thorns.

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Welcome

Perhaps you're wondering what this blog is all about. First of all, "The Good Woman", whether she writes the posts here or visits to read them, is not perfect. She is simply a sinner redeemed and made good (righteous) by Christ's blood. She desires to serve and please Him for His glory. Regardless of her marital status or age, she needs encouragement along the way and also equipping to enable her to live out her divinely-designed occupation of helper (this includes single women). That is what this blog is all about. Please explore the articles offered on Biblical womanhood, written out of love for Christ in obedience to the charge inTitus 2:3-5."...older women...train the younger women...". And may God cause you to bring forth what is good out of the precious treasure of your heart (the God of all goodness).